Job Detail

Define and edit scheduled jobs

This page lets you review, create, and edit a scheduled job and its settings. Jobs can execute a T-SQL query against one or more instances or run an arbitrary command on one or more agents.

Job properties

  • Name: descriptive job name.
  • Type: choose the job type:
    • Execute Query — runs the specified SQL text against selected SQL instances.
    • Execute Command — runs the specified command on one or more agents.

Execute Query controls

  • Instance selection:
    • First dropdown: choose selection mode (Instance, Instance Group, or Tag).
    • Second dropdown: pick one Instance, Group, or Tag depending on the selection mode. Use groups or tags to target many instances.
  • Max Concurrent Instances: maximum parallel executions:
    • 1 = run sequentially (no parallelism).
    • 0 = run against all selected instances in parallel.
    • Choose a limit to avoid saturating CPU, I/O, or network (for example, limit concurrent backups to 5 to avoid disk flooding).
  • Retries: number of retry attempts on failure.
  • Retry delay (s): delay, in seconds, between retry attempts.

Execute Command controls

  • Agent target: choose All Agents or select a specific agent to run the command. Commands are executed by the agent process on the host running the selected agent(s).

Common controls (both job types)

  • Enabled: checkbox that enables or disables the job without deleting it.
  • Command: text area containing the T-SQL script or shell command to execute.
    • For Execute Query jobs, SQL text runs against the target instances.
    • For Execute Command jobs, the text is executed by the agent on the host.
  • Schedule: click “Edit Schedule” to expand schedule settings:
    • Type: Recurring or One-time.
    • Cron Expression: enter a cron expression to define recurring schedules.
      • Help: the Help button opens documentation that assists in crafting valid cron expressions.
    • End Date: optional date when the schedule stops running.

Actions (bottom toolbar)

  • Save: persist job definition and schedule.
  • Run Now: immediately queue the job for execution (bypasses the schedule).
  • Job Logs: open the job logs page to inspect past runs and execution output.
  • Cancel: discard unsaved changes and return to the Jobs list.

Notes and tips

  • Use small, targeted schedules during testing and run “Run Now” to validate behavior before enabling wide production schedules.
  • Restrict Max Concurrent Instances for heavy operations (backups, restores, large ETL) to prevent resource contention.
  • Commands executed by agents require appropriate agent permissions on the host
  • Sysadmin acknowledgement
    • If an agent connects to a SQL instance using sysadmin credentials, the job will only run if the instance definition includes the “Acknowledge you are running jobs as a sysadmin” checkbox. This guard prevents accidental execution of high-privilege operations on instances where explicit consent has not been given.
    • Toggle the acknowledgement on the Instance Details page. Jobs that require sysadmin rights will display a warning if the acknowledgement is not enabled for the target instance.